Early History
In the early part of the 1960s, the South Korean government initiated a new economic strategy that requires the chaebols, or conglomerates, to concentrate on increasing production for export. A series of five year plans laid out the strategy for decreasing South Korea's trade deficit while strengthening domestic production. This was a plan which had already been utilized successfully by South Korea's Far East competitors, Taiwan and Hong Kong. Daewoo had a key part in this effort to boost the significance of South Korea's exports.
The South Korean government sponsored cheap loans for chaebols producing products for export. Daewoo benefited from the loans when it began trading during the year 1967. This was at the beginning of the second five-year plan. The company Daewoo capitalized on the large labor force of the nation, its primary asset. By concentrating on labour-intensive industries, like textile and clothing, the business yielded high profits. The corporation's factory in Pusan made 3.6 million shirts on a monthly basis. The company also manufactured simple manufacturing equipment, that were also labour intensive. Throughout this time, Daewoo helped to increase the level of South Korea's exports, that were growing almost 40% per year.
When the demand for labour pushed wages up, the comparative advantage in labor-intensive production in Korea started to decline. Competition from Thailand and Malaysia forced Korea to refocus its energies on other industries, such as shipbuilding, petrochemicals, electrical and mechanical engineering, and construction. This phase of the country's economic recovery lasted from 1973 to the year 1981. This occurred at the same time as the United States announced its intentions to completely withdraw its peacekeeping forces from the country. The new emphasis in manufacturing was meant to further the expansion of Korea's exports while simultaneously making components which previously had to be imported. Domestic components manufacturing helped to make possible a national defense industry and strengthen domestic industries.